Angulo

I. Background

On November 17, 2012, May Brunckhorst was collecting the quarters from vending machines in a laundromat; she put the quarters in a plastic bag and placed it in a shopping cart next to her. Petitioner Christopher Angulo grabbed the plastic bag containing the money and ran off. The victim chased after him and caught hold of him, but let go when Angulo swung at her and missed. A group of onlookers gave chase and tackled Angulo to the ground. A passing Pleasant Hill police officer saw the chase, responded to the scene and took Angulo into custody. Subsequently, Angulo was charged with second degree robbery (§§ 211, 212.5(c)) with several prior conviction allegations , including a prior serious felony conviction (residential burglary), and two prior prison convictions for corporal injury to a spouse/cohabitant and battery upon a police officer. At a sentencing hearing held on October 8, 2014, Angulo pleaded guilty to an amended count of grand theft “from the person of another” (§ 487(c)), admitted two prison priors, and received a half-time eligible sentence of five years imprisonment (aggravated term of 3 years on grand theft plus a consecutive one year for each of the…